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The origins of the Longshot sniper rifle dated back to the Pendulum Wars, manufactured by the COG for its Gears to counter the UIRMarkza Rifle. With the Gnasher Shotgun and Lancer Assault Rifle providing closer ranged firepower, the Longshot allowed Gears to metaphorically "reach out and touch someone". With its competent scope, long barrel, and precise but powerful ballistics, the Longshot shifted the rules of combat drastically, allowing a skilled sniper to remain uninjured or even unseen during firefights.

With a well-placed headshot, the Longshot was capable of dispatching a variety of opponents easily; even if a headshot was inconvenient or otherwise impossible at the time, it was still capable of inflicting critical damage to the target regardless of hit location. If you do manage to strike a Drone in the head, however, the Drone's head will be burst by the round.

Among the other weapons in multiplayer, this weapon is recommended for long range kills. If opposing players are not careful, they could be killed instantly with a single headshot. In Gears of War 2 battles, this method is very powerful when hunting "bots," as they don't move very often. This weapon is excellent for taking out players using a Torque Bow or Hammer of Dawn, because of their tendency to slow their movement to aim properly. Players wielding a Gnasher Shotgun perform similar tactics, thus giving a sniper a better chance to either "down" or kill them. With the use of Active Reload, a single shot could down an enemy, though this was changed in Gears of War 2, in which it simply does more damage when landing a Headshot (useful for taking out some of the stronger enemies, i.e. a boomer or grinder). It may be a sign of good team structure if at least one teammate is wielding a sniper rifle. Snipers are vulnerable to attacks from the side or behind because of their limited field of vision, especially while using the scope to zoom in on enemies.

Occasionally make a 360 degree sweep of your surroundings to avoid being caught off guard by another player who is trying to flank you while you are scoped. You can also bring up your Tac/Com to locate your teammates on the map. If your entire team has relocated, but you cannot see any enemies, consider relocating to stay with your team and avoid being cut-off from them. Even if you do not score headshots, direct body shots still deal support damage and can assist teammates fighting at close range. This can be just as helpful as killing the target yourself if it saves them from a shotgun rush.[2]

A Gnasher Shotgun, Lancer, or Hammerburst best complements the Longshot to compensate for its shortcomings at close range. A disadvantage to the user of this weapon can be their online position in a match. The Host of a match can fire this weapon as they would in local single player though people connecting to this host will have to deal with latency. Another disadvantage for players is the Longshot's length, as players can see the Longshot poking out of corners or low cover.

Dizzy Wallin with the weapon

The Longshot is the only weapon that can hit a target in cover when other weapons can't. For example, a player in cover is sometimes immune from fire at certain angles even though you can clearly see them. The Longshot will ignore this restricted angles and headshot someone deep in cover, as long as you can see their head. The Longshot sniper is also known for "corner shooting" where players for example pick up a sniper for the building and then they hide behind the pillars of the building but not taking cover on the cover. While holding down the Left Trigger you slightly move the sniper to the corner of the cover protecting your head and allowing you to snipe at the same time.

In Gears of War 3, when someone aims the Longshot at the player, light is emitted in the form of a glint as a warning to a potential target. Longshots do not collect ammo from ammunition boxes in the campaign.

When in cover, switching directions from left to right or vice-versa while not aiming will change the bolt handle from one side of the gun to the other when the character switches hands, which should be impossible due to the construction of the weapon. Also, when a player leans a direction in cover, the bolt appears to be switched. This is also noticeable on every other weapon, as the shells come out of opposite sides.

There is a glitch in the first Gears of War that allows the player to appear invisible and can only be done with the Longshot rifle. While aiming the rifle, melee and zoom at the same time. If done correctly, the player will be back in third person but their body will not be there. The guns on their back and waist are still present and seem to float on an invisible being. This works in multiplayer as well as in campaign mode. Other players can still see those under the effect of this glitch, however, and the invisibility can only be noticed by the person controlling the invisible character. Invisible players can still be downed or die, as well as take cover, pick up weapons, switch weapons, shoot, roll and melee. Aiming again with the longshot rifle will cancel the effect.

If the Horde Command Pack is downloaded, the command center will have the option to take out random enemies with sniper teams in Horde 2.0.

For a time, this was the only weapon in the Gears of War games that had a stock, all other weapons appear to be devoid of them, except the original design for the Mk 1 Lancer that appeared to have a folding stock. However, it has now been joined by the Breechshot and Markza rifles.